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War of the Crimson Elephant
A major war between the Exatai of the Satar and an alliance of other nations, most notably Krato, Moti, the Empire of the Trilui, Hu'ut, and Faron, The War of the Crimson Elephant lasted from 215 to 230 by the Seshweay Calendar, and ended in the effective destruction of the Exatai of the Satar, the Trilui and of Faron. = Background = Much of the current era in world history can be traced to the migration of the Satar, a steppe people, into the cradle of civilization. Conquering the ancient civilization of the Seshweay, the Satar set up a new Exatai with its capital at the fortress city of Magha on the River Sesh. Not satiated by this initial conquest, the Satar continued to attack their neighbors, pillaging Krato to the south in a grand campaign by their second Redeemer, Atraxes. This was the first of a long series of wars between the Satar and their Uggor neighbors to the south. The third Redeemer, Xetares, was an even more aggressive ruler than Atraxes had been, and decided that he would attempt to conquer the world. Sending an envoy to the other great Uggor state, Moti, he demanded that the latter hand over what amounted to nearly half their territory and continue on as a Satar vassal. Naturally, the Moti chief-of-chiefs Third Gaci declined to grant this request, and thus the war was begun, with Moti bringing in the still-resentful Kratoans, and the Satar being joined by their lesser ally the Algoli. In the east, the Trilui and Faron had largely been minding their own business, the latter having just concluded a major war of their own and attempting to build up a new vassal state in Hu'ut under Shafay Fetosa. = The Conflict = The First Campaigns Xetares began immediately with a push by his largest forces to invade the northern lands of the Moti, defended by the Moti general Kono. Kono's force attempted to parry an anticipated Satar flanking maneuver, but he had underestimated both the speed and sheer size of the Satar advance; even with reinforcements from a friendly Faron general. Xetares drove him southwards, and the garrisons at Kirost and Gyza were dispatched easily, and the city of Bysrium put under siege. The Moti retreated to the great passes of the Kotthorns, which they had heavily fortified. Rather than charge through blindly, Xetares left a large force to defend the area and took a much more cavalry-heavy contingent eastwards, away from the present conflict. Meanwhile, the two Uggor nations were determined to eliminate their closer foe. Moti had only left token forces in the north. In the south, they focused together with the Krato to corral the various Algoli raiding forces and dispatch them in a series of battles along the River Yensai. For the most part these adventures were successful, but they were time consuming and could not be resolved to satisfaction; by the time the Uggor had reasonably secured their surroundings, Xetares had already made several further steps along the campaign trail, and the Algoli still remained a serious threat. Xetares, for his part, had continued along with his dream of conquering the world. His forces advanced down the River Had, defeating the minimal Hu'ut forces in their path. He then split his army again, sending the foot soldiers against the Hu'ut city of Hiuttu and taking his cavalry and siege train northwards, to loop around Helsia. There they devastated Trovin, at that time the largest city in the world and the capital of the Empire of the Trilui, and then the capital and major cities of Faron as well. By this time, the Uggor had gathered their forces under Gaci, and pushed northwards through the secret passes of the Kotthorns, advancing down the River Sesh to the Satar capital of Magha, which they put under siege. Xetares, concerned for the safety of his capital, advanced with the greater part of his army, leaving his general Hashaskor to continue the war in the Had Valley. Racing over the Senet Desert with unseemly haste, he finally met the Uggor armies on the banks of the River Sesh. Battle of Magha Crossing the river at night, the Satar immediately met the assembled allied armies in battle. The Uggor were deployed in a deep line, with Gaci at the right, Kratoan chief Iltu in the middle, and Kono on the right. Xetares took the left opposite Gaci, while Aphas led the middle. Immediately the war elephants of the Uggor told, driving back the Satar right, which fell back and began to harass their opponents. The center was a much more fiercely contested battle, with the Satar cavalry crushing all in their path and driving back the Uggor infantry: the Uggor, for their part, were intending to envelop the enemy and were only too happy to oblige. On the right, meanwhile, Xetares, well protected by his Argai bodyguards, attempted to find and kill Third Gaci in the chaos as elephants from both sides clashed. Third Gaci, of course, evaded him, and sent forth an elephant corps into the heart of the Argai formation, devastating them. Meanwhile, the allied right used a surprising false retreat tactic that allowed them to get the upper hand, and gradually fanned out, Gaci stationing several thousand troops in the reeds of the river: the Satar attacked these and were quickly bogged down, quite literally. With this, the Uggor were able to kill Aphas, and now with the momentum firmly in their favor, began to envelop the entire Satar army; soon the latter fell to pieces and Xetares was killed by a hundred arrows. Last Campaigns A rebellion by the Seshweay was able to retake the Sesh Delta, while Magha, ruled at this time by Ishalia, daughter of the Oracle, was put under a brief siege that ended with its surrender. The rest of the Satar retreated northwards. In the east, the Hu'ut forces were able to drive out the Satar garrisons. Hashaskor attempted to hold Subal against various foes for some time before finally deciding that it was fruitless and retreated southwards into the Kothai. = Aftermath = With the destruction of their armies, the Satar princes were convinced that they had failed Taleldil. Those who remained in the west committed ritual suicide and the Satar lands fell into disarray. They were later united by Macrinius, High Censoratta of the Acca, who was able to build a new Accan Exatai through the force of his own will. This empire retook the Sesh and defeated the Moti in battle several times, though what the outcome of that later war is has yet to be determined. Hashaskor lived a scavenger's existence, building a raiding state in the Kothai which later developed into the Kothari Exatai. The Empires of the Trilui and Faron started a rapid decline after their burning by the Satar; in only a short time small successor states would exist where once there were much greater powers. Krato had been bled white by the war, and quickly fell into a civil war. Of the allies, only the Moti truly managed to retain any kind of grip on their newfound empire, though even that, as has been mentioned, was quickly threatened by the new Exatai. Clearly Xetares had failed in his goal to conquer the world. But the fact of the matter is that he was able to devastate a great part of it. Category:Wars Category:Satar Category:Uggor Category:Farou Category:Trilui